Ministers of industry and economy criticize EU norms for packing and packaging

The minister of industry, Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan, disclosed that Lebanese exports to the European Union have risen to USD 300 million only (from $ USD 200 million in year 2000, according to the statistics of the ministry of Industry), while EU exports to Lebanon jumped from USD 2 billion to some  USD 5.8 billion during the past 14 years. This, Hajj Hassan concluded, points to a drastic imbalance in trade, as he called for the review of the partnership treaties with the EU in order to lift Lebanese exports. Hajj Hassan was speaking last Thursday during the fifth meeting of the Lebanese-EU sub-committee in charge of follow up of the Lebanese-EU Partnership Agreement, in the presence of Kristina Lassen, the EU ambassador, representatives of concerned Lebanese ministries and delegates of European embassies to Lebanon. During the meeting Hajj Hassan strongly reiterated his request for increased exports to the EU market, while Lassen expressed readiness to step up assistance in this direction, particularly regarding food industry exports. Furthermore, the industry minister criticized during his intervention the high administrative and regulatory barriers set by the EU on the Lebanese goods, especially those pertaining to the proviso of the country of origin, while his economy counterpart, Alan Hakim, described such EU barriers as unjustified, particularly in reference to the standards of packing and packaging. (L’Orient Le Jour, Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, October 27, 28, November 1 and 2, 2016)

 

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